2nd El Paso toll road pitched: Goal is to ease congestion on Loop 375

Loop 375 between Pelicano and the Zaragoza port of entry may soon become a toll road. (Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)

(Illustration by Nacho Garcia / El Paso Times)

A second Loop 375 toll road is being planned -- even before the first one opens.

The Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority wants to build two toll lanes on Loop 375 on the East Side parallel to Americas Avenue. The lanes would connect to the toll lane currently being built on the César Chávez Border Highway portion of the loop.

The amount of the toll has not been decided.

The proposed toll road would run north and south and possibly extend from Pellicano Drive to Zaragoza Road.

Raymond Telles, executive director of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, said the length and price of the toll road is not known yet because the planning process is in the preliminary engineering and environmental phase.

REPORTER

Aaron Bracamontes

The goal is that the toll road will relieve congestion on Loop 375, Telles said.

"What we are going to eventually build is one manage lane in each direction, similar to what we are doing on César Chávez," Telles said.

The $85 million project on the César Chávez Highway will run east and west from Zaragoza to U.S. Highway 54. That project will also have a lane in each direction and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Telles said the regional mobility authority is interested in building a similar toll road from Zaragoza to Pellicano because north of Pellicano the road is already adaptable for an extra lane.

Advertisement

The current planning phase is expected to last until summer 2014 as the regional mobility authority gathers information and feedback from residents during meetings such as the one scheduled for July 18 at Del Valle High School.

"It will be a town hall style meeting. The public will come in and we can discuss at length what we are doing," Telles said. "We will have different poster boards of the road in different areas and we will have somebody at each of these boards to answer questions."

The design phase would start next summer, which would require the board to seek designing and building bids.

"Part of (the meetings and feedback) is to figure out if we toll all of that portion or just a part of it," Telles said. "The lanes will connect with the toll roads on César Chávez."

The design phase could take another year and the construction would take about two additional years, said Pete Jacobs a representative from general engineering consultant company Atkins.

"The whole purpose of this upcoming meeting is to get an idea of what people want to see," Jacobs said. "We don't know where the tolling facility will be placed right now. That will be decided later."

Jacobs said residents could provide suggestions and feedback at next week's meeting or send it to Atkins at:

404 Executive Center Boulevard, El Paso, TX 79902.

Or, at Pete.Jacobs@atkinsglobal.com.

"We will respond to folks who call and ask questions too," Jacobs said. "But when we get an official written response we will put that on the record for consideration."

The project might also add frontage road bridges over a Union Pacific railroad track and other major roads.

A frontage road could also be added from Alameda Avenue to North Loop Drive.

Erin Hubert, 35, said she has seen toll roads in other cities improve daily commutes and relieve congestion on the highway.

"I grew up in the Houston area where there are a lot of toll roads and there are pros and cons," Hubert said. "I think if it clears up congestion on this part of town then it will be great."

One drawback is that drivers will have to pay to drive on the road, but Hubert said it might be worth it if a driver usually commutes to Downtown or the West Side.

Drivers will have to pay for electronic tags that are placed on the windshield to drive on the road.

Drivers without the electronic tags will be billed through the mail.

"I think the biggest con is that people have to pay," Hubert said. "That and dealing with the construction to get there because construction always makes traffic worse before it makes it better."

Hubert said there might be some issues with drivers figuring out how to use the lane or drivers trying to use it without paying. But any issue that may come up has probably come up in another city, she said.

"There are kinks that will have to be worked out because nothing starts off perfect," Hubert said. "But I think it will work in the long run."

Aaron Bracamontes may be reached at abracamontes@elpasotimes.com; 546-6156. Follow him on Twitter @AaronBrac

Make plansPublic meeting to discuss the proposed toll road on Loop 375 along Americas Avenue.